The present invention relates to felling trees. More particularly, the present invention relates to felling trees in a safe and efficient manner by controlling the direction in which the tree falls.
When felling trees, it is a constant problem to determine the direction in which the tree will fall. The problem is especially severe when the tree is leaning in an undesirable direction; e.g., in the direction of a nearby house. When the tree is not leaning in any direction, there is still the problem of preventing the tree from falling on the person or persons who is/are felling the tree. The present invention provides a device and a method for causing the tree to fall in a desired direction.
Attempts have been made to solve these problems, but they have not been successful.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,462 to Jessup discloses a tree-felling device adapted to engage a tree being cut down, and to exert a force thereagainst in a particular direction, in order to cause the tree to fall in a selected area. The tree-felling device includes a jacking device of the basic bumper type which is adapted to support an elongated pusher having a tree-engaging head secured at one end thereof, and which is preferably tied to the tree to be cut. As a part of the jacking device, there is provided a ratchet mechanism having an anchoring stud secured thereto for generally receiving and stabilizing one end of said pusher, while the jacking assembly is provided with a support clip about the top portion thereof for holding the pusher.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,173 to Atherton et al. discloses an apparatus for pushing a tree over when the tree is being cut down. When a base connected to a bumper jack is placed on a ground surface, the apparatus is tipped at an angle between the ground surface and the tree. A jack handle operates a mechanism to rise along a jack post, causing a support member to push a shaft through an aperture in a guide member until points on a tip member contact the tree, pushing the tree over when the tree is being cut down.
The principal defects of these prior-art inventions are the following:                (a) A bumper jack is not capable of handling the weight of a large tree.        (b) A bumper jack cannot extend its length to a jack post if a longer jack is needed to push the tree over.        (c) The bumper-jack post would bear the entire weight of the tree. If the post should break, the tree could very possibly fall on the person or persons felling the tree, or fall in some other undesirable direction.        (d) If the jack should fail or break under the load, the jack could not be repaired or changed out during the tree-felling operation.        (e) In the case of the Jessup patent, the head plate (36) which engages the tree is not embedded in the wood of the tree. If the tree turns or twists, the head plate will move, slip, or become disconnected from the tree.        (f) Neither device could be used to fell dead or rotten trees, because neither head is designed to engage dead or rotten wood.        (g) In the case of the Jessup patent, there is nothing to hold the head plate (36) up while the tree-felling device is placed in position to fell the tree.        (h) In the case of the Jessup patent, once the tree is lying on the ground, it would be difficult to disconnect and remove the chain (38) from the tree trunk.        (i) In the case of the Jessup patent, there is nothing to prevent the pusher (34) from sliding off the head plate (36) when pressure is applied by the jack.        (j) In the case of the Jessup patent, in the event that the tree twists or turns, there is nothing to hold the pusher (34) against the head plate (36).        (k) The bumper jack lifts the load with a ratcheting action that allows for a rocking motion of the tree. This can cause the wood in the hinge point to break.        (l) Bumper jacks have a large number of moving parts, and have springs which may weaken and break.        (m) Under load, the support plate for the jack would flip or rise up in front, causing the plate to skid or to be pushed backwards.        (n) There is nothing to prevent the jack support plate from being pushed into the ground or away from the tree.        (o) Neither tree-felling device is usable on hard surfaces.        (p) The tree-felling devices could not be used on banks or inclines.        (q) There is no effective way of transporting the tree-felling devices to the job site.        (r) There is no mechanism to hold the base of the tree pusher in place as the tree pusher is pushed against the tree.        
The present invention provides an effective solution to these and other problems described along with a detailed description of the invention.